Animation Transitions and Effects in a Spreadsheet Application

ABSTRACT

Concepts and technologies are described herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application. In accordance with the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a computer system can execute a visualization component. The computer system can detect selection of a scene included in a visualization of spreadsheet data. The computer system also can generate an effect for the scene selected. In some embodiments, the computer system identifies another scene and generates a transition between the scenes. The computer system can output the effect animation and the transition animation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/681,851 entitled “3D Visualization of Data in Geographical and Temporal Contexts,” filed Aug. 10, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

A spreadsheet application, reporting application, or other data presentation application may support presentation of data in visual representations. The visual representations of the data can include two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional pie charts, line graphs, bar graphs, charts, or the like. Users may generate the visual representations of the data to attempt to gain insight into the data, relationships among data points, trends, or the like. Some data, however, may not be readily susceptible to graphing and/or charting according to these approaches.

In particular, some data may include geographical and/or temporal components. Spreadsheet applications may present these data in charts, graphs, or other visual representations, but the display of this type of information may be limited to color codes, data labels, or other formats that may not impart meaning to the data being presented. Furthermore, the presentation of these data may not provide the data in a visually appealing manner and therefore may not be appreciated by viewers.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.

SUMMARY

Concepts and technologies are described herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application. In accordance with the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a computer system can execute a visualization component. The visualization component can be included in a spreadsheet application and/or can be configured to present visualizations of spreadsheet data. As used herein, a “visualization” can include an animated rendering of spreadsheet data over time on a map, globe, or other surface that can provide geographical context. According to various embodiments, the visualization can include one or more scenes. The visualizations can be based, at least in part, upon geographical information and/or time values, timestamps, and/or other temporal information included in the data. The visualization can include a rendered globe or map that shows the data in corresponding locations on the map or globe, based upon geographical information and/or other location data included in the data.

Additionally, embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein can be used to add camera effects and/or camera transitions to and/or between scenes. As used herein, a “camera” can refer to a virtual camera that corresponds to a viewpoint for a particular scene and/or scenes. The viewpoint, path, orientation, and/or other aspects of the camera can be determined based upon an associated effect, as well as a scene start time and end time. The start time and end time for a scene can be specified or selected by a user or determined by the visualization component. The visualization component also can receive a selection of an effect to apply to the scene. The visualization component can generate effects for scenes that animate the camera during rendering of the scene. The effects can include movement of the camera around or past a center point or other focus of the camera during the scene.

The visualization component also can generate transitions between the scenes that animate the camera between the scenes. The visualization component can receive a duration of the transition, receive a start location and an end location, and determine a path between the locations. The visualization component also can determine an orientation of the camera during the transition. The transitions can include movement of the camera along a flight path and/or varying zoom levels of the camera. The transition and the effects can be displayed by the visualization component and/or output by the visualization component in other ways.

According to one aspect, a computer system executing a visualization component receives spreadsheet data. The spreadsheet data can include a visualization and/or the visualization can be generated by the visualization component and/or other devices. The computer system can detect selection of a scene of the visualization, for example via a user interface presenting the visualization. The computer system can generate an effect for the scene. The effect can be generated based upon a known or selected effect type, effect duration, effect speed, and/or a camera distance for the effect. The computer system also can output an effect animation.

According to another aspect, the computer system can identify two scenes in the visualization and generate a transition between the scenes. The computer system can generate the transition based upon a known or selected transition type, a distance between geographic locations depicted in the scenes, and a transition time or duration. The computer system also can output a transition animation. In some embodiments, the computer system outputs the effect animation and the transition animation in a preview screen included in a user interface.

It should be appreciated that the above-described subject matter may be implemented as a computer-controlled apparatus, a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer-readable storage medium. These and various other features will be apparent from a reading of the following Detailed Description and a review of the associated drawings.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended that this Summary be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an illustrative operating environment for the various embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing additional aspects of the visualization component described herein, according to an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for generating animation effects and transitions in a spreadsheet application, according to an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for generating animation effects in a spreadsheet application, according to an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for generating animation transitions in a spreadsheet application, according to an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a line diagram illustrating additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for configuring animation effects, according to an illustrative embodiment.

FIGS. 7A-7H are line drawings illustrating some aspects of several example animation effects and transitions, according to some illustrative embodiments.

FIGS. 8A-8B are UI diagrams showing example UIs for use in configuring and outputting animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application, according to some illustrative embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a computer architecture diagram illustrating an illustrative computer hardware and software architecture for a computing system capable of implementing aspects of the embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a distributed computing environment capable of implementing aspects of the embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 11 is a computer architecture diagram illustrating a computer system architecture capable of implementing aspects of the embodiments presented herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is directed to concepts and technologies for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application. According to the concepts and technologies described herein, a computer system can execute a visualization component. The visualization component can obtain spreadsheet data that includes, or can be used to generate, a visualization of spreadsheet data. The visualization can include one or more scenes and can show the spreadsheet data in geographic and temporal contexts based upon geographical information and/or time information included in the spreadsheet data. The visualization component can be configured to add camera effects to scenes, and/or to add camera transitions between two or more scenes. The effects can include movement of the camera around or past a center point or other focus of the camera during the scene, and the transitions can include movement of the camera along a flight path and/or varying zoom levels of the camera.

The visualization component can be configured to detect selection of a scene of the visualization, for example via a user interface presenting the visualization. The visualization component can be configured to generate an effect for the scene based, at least in part, upon a known or selected effect type, effect duration, effect speed, and/or a camera distance for the effect. The visualization component also can be configured to identify two scenes in the visualization and generate a transition between the scenes. The visualization component can be configured to generate the transition based upon a known or selected transition type, a distance between geographic locations depicted in the scenes, and a duration of the transition. The visualization component can be configured to output an effect animation and a transition animation.

While the subject matter described herein is presented in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with the execution of an operating system and application programs on a computer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that other implementations may be performed in combination with other types of program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the subject matter described herein may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.

In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments or examples. Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, aspects of a computing system, computer-readable storage medium, and computer-implemented methodology for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application will be presented.

Referring now to FIG. 1, aspects of one operating environment 100 for the various embodiments presented herein will be described. The operating environment 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a computer system 102 operating as a part of and/or in communication with a communications network (“network”) 104. According to various implementations of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the functionality of the computer system 102 can be provided by a cloud-based computing platform that can be provided by one or more application servers, Web servers, data storage systems, network appliances, dedicated hardware devices, and/or other server computers or computing devices.

According to some other embodiments, the computer system 102 can include a user computing device, such as a tablet computing device, a personal computer (“PC”), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a cellular phone or smartphone, other mobile computing devices, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”), or the like. Some example architectures of the computer system 102 are illustrated and described below with reference to FIGS. 6-8. For purposes of illustrating and describing the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the functionality of the computer system 102 is described herein as being provided by a server computer. In light of the above alternative embodiments of the computer system 102 described above, it should be understood that this example is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The computer system 102 can be configured to execute an operating system 106 and one or more application programs such as, for example, a spreadsheet application 108, a visualization component 110, and/or other application programs. The operating system 106 is a computer program for controlling the operation of the computer system 102. The application programs are executable programs configured to execute on top of the operating system 106 to provide the functionality described herein for displaying temporal information in a spreadsheet application.

In particular, the spreadsheet application 108 can be configured to create, manipulate, store, and/or otherwise interact with tabular or other structured data such as spreadsheets. According to some embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 can be provided by a member of the MICROSOFT EXCEL family of spreadsheet applications from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington. In some other embodiments, the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 can be provided by a database application, a data reporting application, a data presentation application, combinations thereof, or the like.

According to some implementations, the spreadsheet application 108 can be executed by one or more server computers in the computer system 102, such as application servers and/or Web servers. Thus, the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 can be accessed by other computing devices and/or accessed at the computer system 102. In the illustrated embodiment, the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 can be accessed and/or interacted with by a user computing device 112. The functionality of the user computing device 112 can be provided by, for example, a tablet computing device, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, other computing devices, combinations thereof, or the like. The user computing device 112 can communicate with the computer system 102 over one or more links or networks such as, for example, the network 104, a private network, a direct wireless or wired connection, the Internet, and/or combinations of these and other networks and/or communication links.

Although not visible in FIG. 1, the user computing device 112 can execute one or more client applications. The client applications can include Web browser applications and/or other applications for accessing the spreadsheet application 108 executing on the computer system 102. In some embodiments, the spreadsheet application 108 can be executed locally on the user computing device 112 or other devices that can include the functionality of the computer system 102 described herein. The spreadsheet application 108 can be implemented as hardware, software, and/or a combination of the two. Furthermore, the spreadsheet application 108 can include one or more application program modules and other components on the user computing device 112, the computer system 102, and/or other computing platforms. As will be explained in more detail herein, the user computing device 112 can generate one or more user interfaces (“UIs”) 114 to present temporal information to a user 116.

According to various embodiments, the spreadsheet application 108 can be configured to generate, manipulate, and/or store tabular or other structured data that can be included in spreadsheet data 118. The spreadsheet data 118 also can be stored in tables of a database, objects stored in an object store, or the like. Because the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 is generally understood, the spreadsheet application 108 will not be described in additional detail herein.

According to various implementations, the spreadsheet data 118 can be obtained by the computer system 102 from a local or remote data source 120. In some embodiments, the data source 120 can include a memory, disk drive, or other data storage element of or associated with the computer system 102. In some other embodiments such as the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the data source 120 can include a network drive, a server computer operating as a part of and/or in communication with the network 104, a database or other real or virtual data storage elements, and/or other data storage devices. As such, it should be understood that the data source 120 can include almost any type of data storage device that is local to and/or remote from the computer system 102.

The visualization component 110 can be executed by the computer system 102 to provide the functionality described herein for displaying temporal information in a spreadsheet application. In particular, the visualization component 110 can be configured to obtain the spreadsheet data 118 from the spreadsheet application 108 and/or directly from the data source 120, and to generate, based upon the spreadsheet data 118, three-dimensional visualizations of the spreadsheet data 118 in a geographical and/or temporal context. In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can be implemented as a component of the spreadsheet application 108, and in some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can be implemented as a component separate from the spreadsheet application. Thus, while the spreadsheet application 108 and the visualization component 110 are illustrated as components of the computer system 102, it should be understood that each of these components, or combinations thereof, may be embodied as or in stand-alone devices or components thereof operating on or in communication with the network 104 and/or the computer system 102. Thus, the illustrated embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 may be implemented as a plugin or add-in for the spreadsheet application 108. In some other embodiments, the visualization component 110 can include a service and/or set of application programming interfaces (“APIs”) that can provide the functionality described herein. Thus, it should be appreciated that the visualization component 110 can be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the visualization component 110 can be configured to access one or more geocoding services 122. The geocoding services 122 can be configured to map geographical data included in the spreadsheet data 118 to geographic information. Thus, for example, the visualization component 110 can provide geographical data included in the spreadsheet data 118 such as, for example, a street address, a city, a state, a ZIP code, or the like, to the geocoding services 122. The geocoding services 122 can map this geographical data to latitude and longitude information and/or other geocoded location data. Thus, it can be appreciated that the geocoding services 122 can be called by the computer system 102 via one or more APIs exposed by the geocoding services 122, though this is not necessarily the case. Furthermore, the geocoding services 122 can be configured to provide geographic mapping data 124 representing mappings of the geographical data to the geocoded location data to the computer system 102, though this is not necessarily the case.

In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can access the geocoding services 122 via one or more networks such as, for example, the network 104, the Internet, other networks, and/or a combination thereof. In some other embodiments, the geocoding services 122 can be implemented on the computer system 102. In one contemplated embodiment, the geocoding services 122 are implemented as a component of the visualization component 110. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The visualization component 110 also can be configured to obtain and/or access map data 126. The map data 126 can be used to provide geolocation and/or graphical data for the creation of the three-dimensional geographical maps as described herein. The visualization component 110 may be configured to obtain or access the map data 126 from or at a computing device such as, for example, a map server 128. In some embodiments, the functionality of the map server 128 can be provided by a mapping application executed by a search engine such as the BING search engine from Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington. Because the functionality of the map server 128 can be provided by additional and/or other devices and/or applications, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The computer system 102 can access the map server 128 via one or more networks such as, for example, the network 104. In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can be configured to access map tiles from the map data 126, and to stitch the map tiles together over a three-dimensional globe armature to create a three-dimensional geographic globe. The visualization component 110 can be configured to use geocoded location data such as latitude and longitude data from the geocoding services 122 to place visualizations of data included in the spreadsheet data 118 on the three-dimensional geographic globe. As such, various embodiments of the visualization component 110 can be configured to generate displays of geographic data.

As used herein, a “visualization” can include an animation, scene, and/or a tour of multiple scenes. The animation, scene, and/or tour of scenes can represent the spreadsheet data 118 on a globe, map, or other representation of a geographic location associated with the spreadsheet data 118. In particular, the spreadsheet data 118 can be displayed on a visual representation of the globe, a map, or other surface at points corresponding to geographic location data included in the spreadsheet data 118 and/or mapped to locations as described above. The visualization also can show data changes over time.

The user 116 may interact with the spreadsheet application 108 and the visualization component 110 to create and/or navigate the visualization of the spreadsheet data 118 through a display of the user computing device 112. In some embodiments, the user 116 may use one or more input devices of the user computing device 112 such as a touchscreen, a keyboard, a mouse, a game controller, combinations thereof, or the like. The UIs 114 can be presented on the touchscreen, a monitor, a display, other display surfaces or devices, combinations thereof, or the like.

The visualization component 110 also can be executed by the computer system 102 to provide the functionality described herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application. In particular, the visualization component 110 can be configured to obtain the spreadsheet data 118 and to generate the visualization of the spreadsheet data 118 as described above. According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the visualization component 110 can be configured to generate and/or present various user interfaces for creating, modifying, and/or saving scenes. In particular, the visualization component 110 can be configured to arrange scenes in a “tour,” which is used herein to refer to a sequence of multiple scenes.

The scenes of the tour can be rendered by the visualization component 110 from a viewpoint or perspective referred to herein as a “camera.” It should be understood that there is no physical “camera” in the scenes described herein, which are rendered by the visual component 110. Thus, as used herein, a “camera” can refer to a viewpoint associated with a virtual camera. Other aspects of the camera can be set by options, user settings, combinations thereof, or the like. These aspects can include, but are not limited to, a location of the camera, a field of view of the camera, a focal length and/or view angle of the camera, a line of sight and/or tilt, skew, or other orientation of the camera, movement of the camera, or the like. Thus, the visualization component 110 can be configured to generate the scenes described herein as if filmed with a real camera.

Furthermore, various embodiments of the visualization component 110 can be configured to apply and/or modify various camera effects in a scene and/or to apply and/or modify various camera transitions between scenes. As will be described herein in detail, particularly with reference to FIGS. 3-8B, the visualization component 110 can present the tour in a user interface and detect selection of a scene in the tour. The visualization component 110 can generate one or more effects for the selected scene.

In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can generate the effects by determining an effect type, determining timing for the effect such as duration and speed, determining a camera distance from the rendered data, and generating the effect animation. These and other aspects of the effects can be specified by a user or other entity via interactions with a user interface; specified by settings, options, or the like; and/or otherwise determined by the visualization component 110 via analysis of the scene. The effects can include, but are not limited to, an orbit effect, a stationary effect, a fly by effect, a figure eight effect, a line effect, other effects, or the like.

The effects also can be tailored to represent a desired speed and/or magnitude. Thus, for example, a user can increase a magnitude of an effect such as an orbit effect. In such an example, the speed of the effect can be increased, the effect can be repeated in a scene. In some embodiments, a viewing distance associated with an effect, e.g., a radius associated with an orbit effect, can be determined automatically by the visualization component 110 and/or specified by a user or other entity. In the case of a linear effect, an increase in magnitude of an effect can cause an increase in a viewing angle and/or a trajectory on which the camera travels. Thus, the magnitude of an effect can affect the speed of the camera, wherein the speed can be bound to the magnitude and/or automatically calculated based upon the magnitude, if desired. These effects are illustrated and described in more detail below, particularly with reference to FIGS. 4 and 6-7E. The visualization component 110 can apply the selected effect(s), timing, and camera distance to generate the effect animation.

The visualization component 110 also can generate transitions to be applied between two or more scenes of a tour. The visualization component 110 can apply the transitions by determining a transition type, determining a distance between the scenes, determining a transition time or a duration of the transition, and generating the transition animation. The visualization component 110 also can receive a duration of the transition or determine the duration of the transition. Because the scenes can be associated with geographic locations, determining a distance between the scenes can correspond to determining a distance between the geographic locations associated with the scenes. In particular, the visualization component 110 can receive information indicating, for a particular transition, a start location of the camera at the beginning of a transition and an end location of the camera at the end of the transition. The visualization component 110 can determine a path and orientation of the camera between the two locations and over the determined or received duration. The visualization component 110 also can be configured to analyze geographic information to determine the distance between the scenes of a tour and use that information in generating the transition.

The visualization component 110 can determine the duration and/or time of a transition by determining or receiving a duration of the transition via interactions of a user or other entity with a user interface; settings, options, or the like associated with the visualization component 110 and/or the user; and/or otherwise determined by the visualization component 110 via analysis of the scene. In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 receives selections or indications of the duration of the transition, though this is not necessarily the case. The transitions can include, but are not limited to, a cut transition type; a cross-fade transition type; a linear or direct transition type; an arc, jump, or curved transition type; a zoom-out/zoom-in transition type; combinations thereof; or the like.

The generated effects and transitions can be added to the visualization by the visualization component 110. In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can provide a preview of a scene, tour, and/or specific transitions and/or effects in a user interface having a preview portion or screen. Thus, a user or other entity can generate and/or modify the effects and/or transitions and preview the scenes or tour via the visualization component 110. In some embodiments, a user or other entity can set a duration of a transition. If a transition time is reduced to zero (0), the visualization component 110 can be configured to change a transition type to a cut-type transition automatically. Similarly, if a duration of a cut-type transition type is increased to a time greater than zero (0), the visualization component can be configured to produce another type of transition and/or to prompt a user or other entity to select a different transition type. In some embodiments, transitions can be configured to encourage camera travel in an efficient and/or most efficient vector path to a destination. Similarly, the cameras can be controlled by the transitions to encourage the cameras to orient a final viewpoint with a least amount of turns. Further, additional smoothing of the paths between transitions and effects can be applied, which may result in movement of the camera along a round curve as opposed to along sharp angles. These and other aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein are described in more detail below.

In some embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a “fly to” type of transition may produce turning of the camera because the camera may be configured to orient toward a next camera target. While this type of motion may sometimes be desirable, this type of motion may sometimes not be desirable. As such, some embodiments of the cant include a “move to” transition, in which the globe move under the camera can move in an efficient and/or most efficient manner. For example, if a next scene is located behind the camera relative to a view angle, the camera can move backward and/or reverse, while if a next scene is forward or in front of the camera, the camera can be moved forward. The camera also can be moved side-to-side to take the fastest and most efficient way to the next target. In some embodiments, the “move to” transition may be desirable because this transition may be a most efficient way to move the camera from one spot to another, and with a least amount of turning. In some embodiments, the “move to” transition can have an arc shape and/or can avoid flying at low altitude relative to the globe to avoid producing blurry tiles. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

In some embodiments, linear transitions can cause the camera to travel in a linear trajectory. According to some embodiments, as a user controls speed and/or duration of a scene, the visualization component 110 can adjust a length of the trajectory of the camera as the camera may end up at a location far from a desired viewpoint or subject of a scene. According to various embodiments, controlling speed and scene duration can result in additional loops of the camera through the transition. In some embodiments, the visualization component can change or allow a user to change a speed control for linear effects to control the extent of the effect, namely, the user may control the length of the trajectory instead of controlling the speed. In some embodiments, the speed can be automatically determined based upon on the scene duration and the length of the trajectory or the extent. It should be understood that these embodiments are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

FIG. 1 illustrates one computer system 102, one network 104, one user computing device 112, one data source 120, one instance of geocoding services 122, and one map server 128. It should be understood, however, that some implementations of the operating environment 100 can include multiple computer systems 102, multiple networks 104, multiple user computing devices 112, multiple data sources 120, multiple instances the geocoding services 122, and/or multiple map servers 128. As such, the illustrated embodiment of the operating environment should be understood as being illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Turning now to FIG. 2, additional aspects of the visualization component 110 will be presented, according to one illustrative embodiment. In particular, FIG. 2 provides further details regarding architecture and subcomponents of the visualization component 110, according to some embodiments. The visualization component 110 can include a number of components and/or subsystems including, but not limited to, a visualization control 200, a visualization engine 202, a spreadsheet plugin core 204, and/or other components and/or subsystems.

The visualization control 200 can include functionality for representing data, performing searches and/or providing search services, a globe control for visualizing and/or presenting representations of the globe, video recording functionality for recording animations and/or videos of illustrated tours, and a client. The visualization engine 202 can include functionality for generating a tour including multiple scenes, images, and/or animation sequences; functionality for measuring and/or representing time in the visualization space; an engine core for providing the visualization component functionality described herein; annotations functionality for generating and/or rendering two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional annotations; spatial indexing functionality; and camera functionality. The visualization engine 202 also can include globe models and/or functionality for representing the globe; input and touch modules for interpreting touch and/or multi-touch commands as input; visual layers functionality for representing and/or interacting with layers of a visualization space; a tile cache for storing map tiles; a three-dimensional graphics module for generating and/or rendering three-dimensional visualizations; and shaders for providing shading of generated and/or rendered three-dimensional objects.

In some embodiments, the shaders can include or implement a number of algorithms to facilitate the rendering of the three-dimensional geographical visualizations of data described herein. For example, the visualization component 110 can implement a dark aura effect for disambiguating visualization of a number of similarly colored objects. A dark aura effect can include a visual treatment that allows a viewer, for example the user 116, to differentiate between items in a three-dimensional visualization space. When there are multiple, similarly colored columns in a three-dimensional visualization or view, some of these columns may be next to and/or behind one another in the three-dimensional view. Thus, the multiple columns may appear to be grouped together and/or may look like a single polygon. In some embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the dark aura effect can be added around one or more of the columns, thereby allowing the one or more columns to appear to stand out from one another. Because other visual effects are possible and are contemplated, it should be understood that this example is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

In another example, the visualization component 110 may implement a GPU-based framework for asynchronous hit testing for large number of arbitrary three-dimensional elements. This may comprise adding “out-of-channel” color information to pixels of the objects rendered in the three-dimensional visualization that may be invisible to the viewer, but can contain information identifying the object. Thus, if a user taps, clicks, or otherwise interacts with a point in the three-dimensional visualization, the identity of the object represented by the selected pixel can be known without deconstructing the three-dimensional visualization and determining the object rendered at the selected location. This may be implemented in the GPU.

The spreadsheet plugin core 204 can include functionality for storing workbook state information, as well as a query engine for generating and/or executing queries against various data sources. In some embodiments, the query engine can be configured to generate a query based upon data stored in the spreadsheet data 118, and to submit the queries to a search engine. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The visualization component 110 also can include various other components and/or subsystems such as, for example, a spreadsheet program native plugin and a spreadsheet program API such as, for example, a command object model (“COM”) API, a Java API, and/or other technologies such as Perl, Apple Cocoa framework, various server and/or client-side script execution environments or the like. The visualization component 110 also can include various graphics plugins and/or APIs such as the illustrated DIRECTX APIs, API call emulators such as the illustrated DIRECTX WRAPPER, a WINDOWS Presentation Foundation (“WPF”) subsystem, combinations thereof, or the like. The visualization component 110 also can include analytics engines such as the illustrated VERTIPAQ engine and/or modules associated with other data providers, if desired. It should be appreciated that the visualization component 110 can include additional and/or alternative functionality not shown in FIG. 2. As such, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 should be understood as being illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Turning now to FIG. 3, aspects of a method 300 for generating animation effects and transitions in a spreadsheet application will be described in detail. It should be understood that the operations of the methods disclosed herein are not necessarily presented in any particular order and that performance of some or all of the operations in an alternative order(s) is possible and is contemplated. The operations have been presented in the demonstrated order for ease of description and illustration. Operations may be added, omitted, and/or performed simultaneously, without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

It also should be understood that the illustrated methods disclosed herein can be ended at any time and need not be performed in their respective (or collective) entireties. Some or all operations of the methods disclosed herein, and/or substantially equivalent operations, can be performed by execution of computer-readable instructions included on a computer-storage media, as defined herein. The term “computer-readable instructions,” and variants thereof, as used in the description and claims, is used expansively herein to include routines, applications, application modules, program modules, programs, components, data structures, algorithms, and the like. Computer-readable instructions can be implemented on various system configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, personal computers, hand-held computer systems, microprocessor-based, programmable consumer electronics, combinations thereof, and the like.

Thus, it should be appreciated that the logical operations described herein are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance and other requirements of the computing system. Accordingly, the logical operations described herein are referred to variously as states, operations, structural devices, acts, or modules. These operations, structural devices, acts, and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof.

For purposes of illustrating and describing the concepts of the present disclosure, the methods disclosed herein are described as being performed by the computer system 102 via execution of one or more software modules such as, for example, the visualization component 110. It should be understood that additional and/or alternative devices and/or network nodes can provide the functionality described herein via execution of one or more modules, applications, and/or other software including, but not limited to, the visualization component 110. Thus, the illustrated embodiments are illustrative, and should not be viewed as being limiting in any way.

The method 300 begins at operation 302, wherein the computer system 102 obtains spreadsheet data 118. As explained above, the spreadsheet data 118 can include various types of information or content such as, for example, spreadsheet files, database application data, and/or other types of information. In one contemplated embodiment, the spreadsheet data 118 corresponds to a spreadsheet file such as a file generated by a member of the MICROSOFT EXCEL family of spreadsheet application software products from Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington. Other contemplated spreadsheet applications include, but are not limited to, a member of the GOOGLE DOCS family of programs, a member of the OPENOFFICE family of programs, a member of the APPLE IWORK NUMBERS family of programs, and/or other spreadsheet, table, and/or database programs. The spreadsheet data 118 can be obtained from a data storage device or component associated with the computer system 102. Some examples of data storage devices are described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 9-11.

In some other embodiments, the spreadsheet data 118 can be stored at or hosted by a remote storage device or resource such as the data source 120 described herein. Thus, the spreadsheet data 118 can be obtained by the computer system 102 via communications with the data source 120. As such, it should be understood that the spreadsheet data 118 can be obtained from any real or virtual device via a direct connection, via one or more networks, and/or via other nodes, devices, and/or device components.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIG. 3, the spreadsheet data 118 obtained by the computer system 102 in operation 302 can include a visualization. Thus, it should be understood that the computer system 102 and/or another device or application can generate a visualization and store the visualization as or in the spreadsheet data 118 obtained in operation 302. Similarly, the computer system 102 can generate and output the UI 114 to the user computing device 112, and the user computing device 112 can present the UI 114 at a display associated with user computing device 112. Thus, it should be understood that operation 302 also can include receiving spreadsheet data 118 and generating the visualization at the computer system 102. Thus, while the methods described herein are illustrated and described as occurring at the computer system 102, it should be understood that user input can occur via a web browser or other program executing at the user computing device 112 and/or other devices or systems remote from the computer system 102.

Additionally, as will be illustrated and described in more detail herein, the visualization, which can be obtained as or with the spreadsheet data 118 and/or generated based upon spreadsheet data 118 obtained in operation 302, can include one or more scenes. “Scenes” can include animation sequences that alone or together can be correspond to the visualization. For example, a first scene of a visualization may include visualization of a data set associated with a location such as New York City. Thus, the scene can include an animated sequence showing the data associated with New York City over some time. A next scene may include visualization of another data set associated with Washington, D.C. Thus, it can be appreciated that scenes can include animation sequences that are included in a visualization and/or a tour of multiple scenes.

From operation 302, the method 300 proceeds to operation 304, wherein the computer system 102 selects a scene. In particular, the computer system 102 can select a scene included in the visualization of the spreadsheet data 118 as described herein. In some embodiments, the computer system 102 selects a scene based upon input from a user or the user computing device 112. Thus, for example, a user may select a first scene to configure the transitions and effects associated with the scene, and this selection can be detected by the computer system 102 in operation 340. In some other embodiments, the computer system 102 can create a scene in operation 304, and the created scene can be selected automatically. An example user interface for selecting a scene will be illustrated and described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 8A.

From operation 304, the method 300 proceeds to operation 306. In operation 306, the computer system 102 can determine a duration of the scene. Though not explicitly shown in FIG. 3, the computer system 102 can obtain a selection of a start time and an end time for the scene and/or receive data specifying a duration of the scene. The computer system 102 also can be configured to analyze the scene and determine, based upon the analysis, a duration of the scene. In some other embodiments, the computer system 102 can determine the duration by receiving input, for example, input for specifying a start time and an end time, which may be received via one or more user interfaces and/or user input, and/or can be automatically determined by the computer system 102. Because the duration of the scene can be determined in additional and/or alternative ways, it should be understood that these embodiments are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 306, the method 300 proceeds to operation 308, wherein the computer system 102 generates effects for the scene selected in operation 304. As is explained in more detail below, particularly with reference to FIG. 4, the computer system 102 can generate effects for the scene selected in operation 304. The effects can include camera effects for animating the scene. “Camera effects” can include simulation of camera movement in a visualization to animate the visualization. As noted above, there is no physical “camera” in the scenes. Thus, the computer system 102 and/or the visualization component 110 can be configured to draw the visualization from a viewpoint associated with a virtual camera. As such, a “camera” as used herein can refer to a viewpoint such as a virtual camera location, field of view, and/or line of sight in accordance with which the visualization is drawn and/or animated to mimic a scene filmed with a real camera. In operation 308, the computer system 102 also can determine one or more effects for a scene and timing for the scene, which may be based, at least partially, upon the duration of the scene determined in operation 306. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 308, the method 300 proceeds to operation 310, wherein the computer system 102 determines if another scene is to be configured. According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a visualization can include multiple scenes, and in addition to effects, the computer system 102 can be configured to generate transitions between the scenes. Thus, the computer system 102 can determine, in operation 310, if another scene exists to configure with effects and/or transitions. According to various implementations of the method 300, the determination made in operation 310 is determined in the affirmative at least one time to configure a transition between two scenes. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

If the computer system 102 determines, in operation 310, that another scene is to be configured, the method 300 can return to operation 304, and the computer system 102 can select another scene for configuration. Thus, it can be appreciated that operations 304-310 can be repeated by the computer system 102 any number of times. In some embodiments, the computer system 102 is configured to repeat operations 304-310 until the computer system 102 determines, in any iteration of operation 310, that another scene is not to be configured. If the computer system 102 determines, in operation 310, that another scene is not to be configured, the method 300 proceeds to operation 312.

In operation 312, the computer system 102 generates one or more transitions for the scenes. Thus, the computer system 102 can generate a transition between at least two scenes selected in the multiple iterations of operation 304 as explained above. The transitions can be generated to provide animation between scenes in addition to, or instead of, the effects described herein. Thus, in the above example of two scenes corresponding to New York City and Washington, D.C., the computer system 102 can generate, in operation 312, an animated transition between the scene in New York City and Washington, D.C. Additional details of generating the transitions are provided below with reference to FIGS. 5-8B.

From operation 312, the method 300 proceeds to operation 314, wherein the computer system 102 outputs the effects and transitions generated in operations 308 and 312. According to various implementations, the computer system 102 can output a user interface 114 and/or instructions for generating the user interface 114. The user interface 114 can include a visualization of the spreadsheet data 118. The visualization can include at least two scenes and a transition between the at least two scenes. The visualization also can include effects for at least one scene of the visualization, in some embodiments. From operation 314, the method 300 proceeds to operation 316. The method 300 ends at operation 316.

Turning now to FIG. 4, aspects of a method 400 for generating animation effects in a spreadsheet application will be described in detail. As mentioned above, the functionality described herein with respect to the method 400 can be performed by the computer system 102 in operation 306 of the method 300 shown in FIG. 3, though this is not necessarily the case.

The method 400 begins at operation 402, wherein the computer system 102 determines an effect for the scene selected in operation 304 of the method 300 illustrated in FIG. 3. As mentioned above, “effects” can include animations applied to a camera or other animation viewpoint in a scene. Some example effects are illustrated and described in more detail herein with respect to FIGS. 6-7E. Briefly, the effects can include an orbit effect, where a camera or other animation viewpoint circles a center point or focus of the camera; a stationary effect, where the camera or other animation viewpoint views the center point or focus from a stationary position; a fly by effect, where the camera moves along a path perpendicular to a viewing vector between the camera and the center point or focus of the camera; a figure eight effect, where the camera moves around the center point or focus of the camera in a figure eight shape; a line effect, wherein the camera moves back and forth along a path perpendicular to the viewing vector between the camera and the center point or focus of the camera; other effects; combinations thereof; or the like.

In operation 402, the computer system 102 can identify an effect to be applied to the scene. In particular, the computer system 102 can detect an option, setting, or other preferences to determine the effect. In some embodiments, the computer system 102 can detect user input for selecting the effect. Thus, the computer system 102 can detect, in association with operation 402, selection of an effect by a user or other entity, for example, via a user interface associated with the computer system 102. An example user interface that can be used to select the effect is illustrated and described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 8A-8B.

From operation 402, the method 400 proceeds to operation 404, wherein the computer system 102 determines timing for the effect. As used herein, the “timing” of an effect can include a time duration of the effect and/or a speed of the effect. As mentioned above, timing of the effect can correspond to a time duration of the scene to which the effect is applied. Thus, the computer system 102 can obtain or determine the duration and/or can determine the duration based upon other values determined or received by the computer system 102 such as, for example, a start time of the scene, an end time of the scene, or the like. In some other embodiments, the time duration of the effect may not correspond to a time duration of the scene, and as such, the effect applied to the camera in a particular scene may be visible in a portion of the scene. In various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the time duration of the effect can be a user-settable or configurable option. The time duration can be provided in a user interface, as shown in FIG. 8B, or otherwise set by a user or other entity. Thus, in operation 404, the computer system 102 can determine a time duration and/or detect input from a user or other entity for setting the time duration.

Similarly, the speed of the effect can correspond to a rate at which the animation is applied to the camera or other viewpoint from which the animation is drawn. Thus, for example, the speed of an orbit effect can correspond to a speed or rate at which the camera orbits the focal point or center point of the scene. Thus, the computer system 102 can determine, in operation 404, the speed of the effect and/or detect user input for specifying the speed of the effect. Because the speed and/or time duration of an effect can be determined in additional and/or alternative ways, it should be understood that these examples are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 404, the method 400 proceeds to operation 406, wherein the computer system 102 determines a camera orientation, path, and/or distance. The computer system 102 can be configured to automatically determine these and other aspects of the camera according to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. The camera orientation can define a viewing angle associated with the camera such as, for example, a tilt, pitch, yaw, or the like associated with the camera.

The camera path can include, but is not limited to, a path along which the camera moves during a scene. The camera distance can correspond to a distance from which the camera (or other viewpoint from which the animation is drawn) views the center point or other focal point of the scene. According to various embodiments, the camera distance can be a default value, can be set by user preference and/or configuration settings, and/or can be set by a program setting. In some other embodiments, the camera distance can be determined by the computer system 102 based upon a particular scene. For example, the computer system 102 can identify data points or other representations of data to be viewed in a scene, an angle of view of the camera, an effect applied to the camera, combinations thereof, or the like.

In some embodiments, the computer system 102 can calculate, based upon these and/or other data, the camera distance that will be used to ensure that all data fits in the animated scene. One example of a camera distance and how the camera distance may be set is illustrated and described below with reference to FIG. 6. Because the camera distance can be determined by settings, user input, and/or analysis as described above, it should be understood that the computer system 102 can determine the camera distance in a variety of ways and that operation 406 therefore can include additional and/or alternative operations for obtaining the data to be considered to determine the camera distance.

From operation 406, the method 400 proceeds to operation 408, wherein the computer system 102 generates the scene animation based upon the determinations made in operations 402-406. Thus, the computer system 102 can apply the effect, the time duration, the speed, the camera orientation, the camera path, and the camera distance to the scene and output animation frames corresponding to the animated scene. It should be understood that if the effect determined in operation 402 corresponds to a stationary camera effect, the output animation frames may be substantially identical, though this is not necessarily the case. From operation 408, the method 400 proceeds to operation 410. The method 400 ends at operation 410.

Turning now to FIG. 5, aspects of a method 500 for generating animation transitions in a spreadsheet application will be described in detail. As mentioned above, the functionality described herein with respect to the method 500 can be performed by the computer system 102 in operation 310 of the method 300 shown in FIG. 3, though this is not necessarily the case.

The method 500 begins at operation 502, wherein the computer system 102 determines a transition type for the scenes selected in the method 300 illustrated in FIG. 3. As mentioned above, “transition types” can include animations applied to the camera or other animation viewpoint in a scene as it moves from a position associated with a first scene, also referred to herein as a “start point,” to a position associated with a second scene, also referred to herein as an “end point.” Some example transition types are illustrated and described in more detail herein with respect to FIGS. 7F-7H.

Briefly, the transition types can include, but are not limited to, a cut transition type, where a camera or other animation viewpoint moves instantly from a first viewpoint associated with a first scene to a second viewpoint associated with a second scene; a cross-fade transition type where the camera at the first viewpoint fades out or dissolves away a view of the first viewpoint and fades in or dissolves in a view of the second viewpoint; a linear or direct transition type, where the camera moves along a flight path of constant height (relative to the ground or surface on which the data is displayed) from a first viewpoint associated with a first scene to a second viewpoint associated with a second scene; an arc, jump, or curved transition type, where the camera moves along a curved flight path of varying heights that can mimic a flight path of an aircraft from a first viewpoint associated with a first scene to a second viewpoint associated with a second scene; a zoom-out/zoom-in transition type, where the camera moves away or zooms out from a first viewpoint associated with a first scene, to a second viewpoint at which the first viewpoint and a third viewpoint associated with a second scene are both visible, and finally to the third viewpoint; combinations thereof; or the like.

In some embodiments, the computer system 102 can use a smart transition type that determines the transition based upon a distance between the two viewpoints. For distances that are father apart, an arc or linear transition type may be chosen, while for closer distances, the linear or zoom-in/zoom-out transition types may be chosen. Because other transition types are contemplated, and because the computer system 102 can choose the transition types based upon various considerations, it should be understood that these examples are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

In operation 502, the computer system 102 can identify a transition type to be applied to the scene in various ways. In particular, the computer system 102 can detect an option, setting, or other preferences to determine the transition type. In some embodiments, the computer system 102 can detect user input for selecting the transition type. An example user interface that can be used to select the transition type is illustrated and described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 8A-8B.

From operation 502, the method 500 proceeds to operation 504, wherein the computer system 102 determines if the transition type determined in operation 502 corresponds to a “cut” type of transition. As mentioned above, the “cut” type of transition can include a transition in which the camera instantly moves from a first viewpoint to a second viewpoint without any animation between the two viewpoints. Thus, the cut transition can be effectively equivalent to no transition between the scenes.

If the computer system 102 determines, in operation 504, that the transition type is not a “cut” type transition, the method 500 proceeds to operation 506. In operation 506, the computer system 102 determines if the transition type determined in operation 502 corresponds to a “fade” type of transition. As noted above, the “fade” type of transition can include fading out or dissolving a view at the first viewpoint and fading in or dissolving in a view at the second viewpoint.

If the computer system 102 determines, in operation 504, that the transition type is not a “fade” type transition, the method 500 proceeds to operation 508. In operation 508, the computer system 102 can determine a distance between the scenes selected in the multiple iterations of operation 304 described above with reference to FIG. 3. In some embodiments, the distance determined in operation 508 can correspond to an actual distance between geographic locations associated with each of the first scene and the second scene. According to various implementations of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the geographic location of a scene can correspond to a center of mass or center point of data points as calculated with respect to the geographic mapping data 124 obtained from the geocoding services 122 and/or other data. Thus, in the example above of two scenes in New York City and Washington, D.C., respectively, the computer system can determine the distance as being equivalent to an actual geographic distance between these two cities, for example, two hundred twenty nine miles. Because the distance between the scenes can be determined in other ways, it should be understood that the above example is illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 508, the method 500 proceeds to operation 510 wherein the computer system 102 determines a duration for the transition being applied to the scene. The duration can be defined as a time duration of the transition to be animated. The duration can be determined by receiving a duration from users or other sources, or determined automatically by the computer system 102 based upon preferences or the like. Thus, for example, if the duration is defined as one second, the computer system 102 can animate the transition in one second. According to some embodiments, the duration can be determined based upon a user-settable or configurable option or setting.

The duration also can be determined based upon the determined distance between the scenes. Thus, for example, the computer system 102 can be configured to determine a rate of speed for the camera movement animated in the transition and divide the distance between the scenes by the determined speed, thereby determining the duration. An example user interface for setting the duration is illustrated and described below with reference to FIG. 8B. Because the duration can be determined in additional and/or alternative ways, it should be understood that these examples are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 510, the method 500 proceeds to operation 512, wherein the computer system 102 generates the transition animation. In particular, the computer system 102 can generate the transition animation based upon the determinations made in operations 502-510. Thus, the computer system 102 can generate the transition animation based upon the determined transition type, the determined distance between the scenes, and the determined duration. The computer system 102 can generate the transition animation and output the animation frames for the visualization and/or store the frames for these and/or other uses.

From operation 512, the method 500 proceeds to operation 514. The method 500 also can proceed to operation 514 in response to determining, in operation 504, that the transition type corresponds to a cut transition type. The method 500 also can proceed to operation 514 in response to determining, in operation 506, that the transition type corresponds to a fade transition type. The method 500 ends at operation 514.

Turning now to FIG. 6, additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application will be described. FIG. 6 is a line drawing illustrating camera placement in an example scene 600. The scene 600 is illustrative and is provided solely for purposes of illustrating and describing various aspects of the concepts and technologies mentioned herein. Thus, the illustrated scene 600 should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

As shown in the scene 600, a camera 602 is shown. The camera 602 can correspond to a viewpoint from which the animation associated with the scene 600 is illustrated. Thus, it should be understood that the camera 602 does not necessarily correspond to a real camera. The camera 602 focuses along a line of sight 604 on a viewpoint or center point C. As explained above, the center point C can correspond to a center of mass or focal point of the scene 600 and can be determined by the computer system 102 based upon the spreadsheet data 118. The calculation of the center point C can be completed based upon distribution of data points 606 and/or their associated values. As shown in FIG. 6, the data points 606 can be shown as columns, though other types of representations are contemplated and are possible.

The camera 602 can travel along a flight path 608. The flight path 608 shown in FIG. 6 can correspond to an orbit effect, as explained above. Thus, the camera 602 can orbit the center point C along the flight path 608 at a height h above the “ground” or other surface on which the data points 606 are displayed. Thus, in the orbit effect example shown in FIG. 6, it can be appreciated that the flight path 608 can have a radius equal to the camera distance from the center point C if the center point C was moved to the height h of the flight path 608.

As shown in FIG. 6, the scene 600 also can include a data area 610, which can correspond to a boundary of the data shown in the scene. The data area 610 also can define the visible parts of the scene 600, for example, the bounds of the scene 600 that preferably are captured by the camera 602 when animating the scene 600.

Turning now to FIGS. 7A-7H, some example effects and transitions are illustrated, according to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. FIG. 7A shows an example of the orbit effect. As described herein, the orbit effect can include a circular flight path 608 placed above the geo-spatial data used to represent the ground and/or other surface for the data illustrated in a particular scene. As explained in FIG. 6, the flight path 608 can be placed at a vertical position, relative to the ground or other surface at a height h, though this is not necessarily the case. The camera 602 can circle the center point C along the flight path 608 while keeping the center point C in its focus. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

FIG. 7B shows a stationary camera effect. Thus, as shown, the camera 602 can focus on the center point C along a line of sight from a camera distance d. FIG. 7C shows a fly by effect. As shown in FIG. 7C, the camera 602 can fly along a flight path 702 that passes over the center point C. According to various embodiments, the camera 602 can move along a flight path 702 that is perpendicular to a view line (not visible in FIG. 7C). It should be understood that the flight path 702 can be offset to a side of the center point C at a camera distance, and/or can fly directly “over” the center point C, wherein the camera distance can be substantially equal to the height of the flight path 702. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

FIG. 7D illustrates a line effect, wherein the camera 602 flies back and forth between two positions along a flight path 704. It should be understood that the flight path 704 can be offset to a side of the center point C at a camera distance, and/or can fly directly “over” the center point C, wherein the camera distance can be substantially equal to the height of the flight path 704. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

FIG. 7E illustrates a figure eight effect. The camera 602 can move along a flight path 706 while focusing on the center point C. Thus, it can be appreciated that the camera distance can vary in the figure eight effect. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

FIG. 7F illustrates a linear or direct transition type. As mentioned above, in the linear or direct transition, the camera 602 moves along a flight path 708 from one scene to a next scene. Thus, the camera 602 can move from a first viewpoint VP₁ associated with a first scene and/or center point C₁ to a second viewpoint VP₂ associated with a second scene and/or center point C₂. As mentioned above, the height of the camera relative to the ground 710 and therefore the height of the flight path 708 can be constant and can correspond to the height h shown in FIG. 7F. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

FIG. 7G illustrates an arc, jump, or curved transition type. As mentioned above, in arc transition, the camera 602 moves along a flight path 712 from one scene to a next scene. Thus, the camera 602 can move from a first viewpoint VP₁ associated with a first scene and/or center point C₁ to a second viewpoint VP₂ associated with a second scene and/or center point C₂. As mentioned above, the height of the camera relative to the ground 710, and therefore the height of the flight path 712, can grow from a first height h₁ at a first viewpoint VP₁ associated with a first scene and/or center point C₁, to a height h₂ at an apex 714 of the flight path 712, and then can be reduced back to the height h₁ at a second viewpoint VP₂ associated with a second scene and/or center point C₂. Thus, it can be appreciated that the arc, jump, or curved transition type can simulate an aircraft flight between the two scenes, though this is not necessarily the case. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

FIG. 7H illustrates a zoom-in/zoom-out transition type. As mentioned above, in the zoom-in/zoom-out transition, the camera 602 may or may not move. In some embodiments, the camera 602 zooms out from a first zoom level at which the first scene and/or center point C₁ is visible to a second zoom level at which the first viewpoint VP₁ and a second viewpoint VP₂ associated with a second scene and/or center point C₂ are both visible. The camera 602 can move from a first line or sight 716A to a second line of sight 716B, and then can zoom into the scene until only the second viewpoint VP₂ associated with a second scene and/or center point C₂ is visible. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Turning now to FIGS. 8A-8B, UI diagrams showing various aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application will be described according to various illustrative embodiments. FIG. 8A shows an illustrative screen display 800A generated by a device such as the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112. In some embodiments, the screen display 800A can correspond to the UI 114 displayed by the user computing device 112, as shown in FIG. 1, though this is not necessarily the case. It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in FIG. 8A is illustrative of one contemplated example, and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the screen display 800A can include a tour display screen 802 for viewing scenes associated with a tour of a three-dimensional visualization of data such as the spreadsheet data 118 described herein. In the illustrated embodiment, the screen display 800A includes UI controls 804A-C, the selection of which can cause the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112 to open various options and/or settings associated with the scene in a scene properties bar 806. As shown in FIG. 8A, a user or other entity can select the UI controls 804A-C using a touch input such as a tap with a finger or hand. Because the UI controls 804A-C can be selected using other input mechanisms and/or devices, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The screen display 800A also includes a time control window 808 for moving an animation corresponding to the tour with respect to temporal data included in the spreadsheet data 118 represented in the tour. The use of the time control window 808 is discussed in additional detail below with reference to FIG. 8B. For purposes of illustrating and describing the embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, it is assumed that a user or other entity selects the UI control 804A to view and/or change various properties of the effects and/or transitions associated with scene one. It can be appreciated from the description of FIG. 3 that the transition may apply to a transition from scene one to a next scene of the tour and/or from a scene before scene one to scene one. Thus, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

FIG. 8B shows an illustrative screen display 800B generated by a device such as the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112. In some embodiments, the screen display 800B can correspond to the UI 114 displayed by the user computing device 112, as shown in FIG. 1, though this is not necessarily the case. As mentioned above, the screen display 800B can, but is not necessarily, displayed in response to detecting a command and/or input for adjusting settings associated with scene one such as a tap on the UI control 804A. Because the screen display 800B can be shown at additional and/or alternative times, it should be understood that this example is illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the screen display 800B can include the properties bar 806 shown in FIG. 8A, but the properties bar 806 can display various settings and/or properties associated with scene one. The properties bar 806 can include an indicator 810 of the scene for which properties and/or settings are displayed. The properties bar 806 also can include a UI control 812 for setting a duration of the scene. Thus, the UI control 812 can be used to set a time duration for an animation of scene one. While the UI control 812 is illustrated as showing a duration of two minutes, thirty seconds, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. It also can be appreciated from the description of FIG. 4, that the duration set via the UI control 812 also can correspond to the duration of the effect applied to the scene, though this is not necessarily the case.

The properties bar 806 also can include a transition menu 814 for setting various aspects of the transition between two scenes. Because scene one is selected and/or is being displayed in the properties bar 806, the transition configured via the transition menu 814 can correspond to a transition between scene one and scene two. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. The transition menu 814 can include a type control 816 for setting the transition type. It can be appreciated that the computer system 102 can be configured to detect input in the type control 816 to perform the functionality described herein with respect to operation 502 of the method 500, though this is not necessarily the case.

The transition menu 814 also can include a camera direction control 818 for specifying a camera view direction during the transition. In the illustrated embodiment, the camera direction control 818 is shown as being set to “next,” which can indicate that the camera is to focus on the next scene during the transition. According to various embodiments, the camera direction can be set to “previous,” “next,” and/or “interpolate” to focus on a previous scene, a next scene, and/or an interpolated direction, respectively. Thus, it should be understood that the illustrated setting is illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The transition menu 814 also includes a duration control 820 for setting the duration of the transition. In the illustrated embodiment, the duration control 820 is shown as being set to “medium,” which can indicate that the duration of the transition is to be a medium length time. The length of a medium duration can be set by a user or a program developer and can correspond, in various embodiments, to six seconds and/or other times. According to various embodiments, the duration can be set to “short,” “medium,” “long” and/or “custom,” which can correspond to a four second duration, a six second duration, an eight second duration, and/or a custom duration, respectively. Thus, it should be understood that the illustrated setting is illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The properties bar 806 also can include an effect menu 822 for setting various aspects of the effect to be applied to the selected scene. Because scene one is selected and/or is being displayed in the properties bar 806, the effect configured via the effect menu 822 can correspond to an effect applied to scene one. The effect menu 822 can include an effect type control 824 for setting the effect type. It can be appreciated that the computer system 102 can be configured to detect input in the effect type control 824 to perform the functionality described herein with respect to operation 402 of the method 400, though this is not necessarily the case.

The effect type control 824 is illustrated as displaying an orbit type effect. It should be understood that this indication is illustrative. In particular, the effect type control 824 can display other effect types including, but not limited to, no effect, orbit, fly by, figure eight, a line effect, and/or other effects. The effect menu 822 also can display an effect speed control 826. The effect speed control can be used to set a speed of the effect shown in the effect type control 824. According to various embodiments, the computer system 102 can be configured to detect input in the effect speed control 826 to perform the functionality described herein with respect to operation 404 of the method 400, though this is not necessarily the case.

The effect speed control 826 can be populated based upon the selection in the type control 824, in some embodiments. In particular, if the “none” option in the effect type control 824 is selected, the effect speed control 826 can be empty. If the “orbit” option or the “figure eight” option is selected in the effect type control 824, the effect speed control 826 can be populated with short, medium, long, and custom options. If the “fly by” option or the “line” option is selected in the effect type control 824, the effect speed control 826 can be populated with short, medium, and long options. Because the effect speed control 826 can be populated with additional and/or alternative options, it should be understood that these embodiments are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The screen display 800B also includes the time control window 808 shown in FIG. 8A. The time control window 808 can be used to play and/or scrub through the scene and/or tour. The computer system 102 can be configured to display a preview screen 828 of the scene and/or tour on the screen display 800B, in some embodiments. The time control window 808 can include a scrubber control 830 that can display a time of the tour or scene shown in the preview screen 828. The time control window 808 can include additional and/or alternative controls. As such, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the visualization component 110 can support a simplified flow in creating tours. In some embodiments, a tour and/or a scene can be created automatically by the computer system 102 as soon as geocoding starts. According to some embodiments, a globe or other display surface may not show any data on the globe before geocoding is initiated.

According to various embodiments, the computer system 102 can preserve state by creating scenes and tours. Tours also can be deleted, and in some instances, if a last tour is deleted, the computer system 102 can delete metadata from the spreadsheet data 112. As such, embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein can enable management of tours and scenes by users.

According to embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the visualization component 110 can be configured to animate data time over a duration of a scene. A user or other entity can choose or specify a start time and an end time of the data. The duration of the scene can be used to determine how fast data time is animated during playback of a scene or tour corresponding to the data. In some instances, if the duration of the scene increases, data time can be played slower. Similarly, if the speed of playback of data time increases, the duration of the scene can be decreased. As such, two controls, playback speed and duration can collectively define a speed of playback of data time.

According to some embodiments, transitions can correspond to animations between two or more scenes. Transitions can have a type and a duration. A camera path, an associated turning, angles, speed, acceleration, height of the arch, and/or other aspects of camera movement associated with a transition can be adjusted and calculated by the visualization component 110 automatically. An algorithm can be tuned to minimize a number of turns of the camera during a transition and/or effect, to optimize a viewing angle and/or framing of data in scenes, and the like. In some implementations, transitions can be assigned to each scene of a tour automatically. In some embodiments, transitions can be disabled for a first scene.

Effects can be enabled and assigned automatically to scenes. In some instances, a default effect can be defined. A user can choose a type of effect and a speed at which an effect is applied. The effect may last for an entire duration of a scene and can be matched to the scene duration. Also, loop effects such as orbit and figure eight can be looped multiple times if the duration of the scene is longer than duration of the effect. In the case of linear effects, the visualization component 110 can be configured to locate a focus of a scene in the middle of the linear trajectory for some effects. For some other effects, a capture spot can be adjusted as the camera or other viewpoint moves along a path. The line of travel or trajectory can get shorter or longer depending on the speed of the effect, which may be adjusted by a user or other entity. In addition, the effect may change depending on a height at which the scene is captured. Effects also can change direction automatically so that less turning is applied inside a scene and so that the effect in the scene.

FIG. 9 illustrates an illustrative computer architecture 900 for a device capable of executing the software components described herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application. Thus, the computer architecture 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 illustrates an architecture for a server computer, mobile phone, a PDA, a smart phone, a desktop computer, a netbook computer, a tablet computer, and/or a laptop computer. The computer architecture 900 may be utilized to execute any aspects of the software components presented herein.

The computer architecture 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 includes a central processing unit 902 (“CPU”), a system memory 904, including a random access memory 906 (“RAM”) and a read-only memory (“ROM”) 908, and a system bus 910 that couples the memory 904 to the CPU 902. A basic input/output system containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer architecture 900, such as during startup, is stored in the ROM 908. The computer architecture 900 further includes a mass storage device 912 for storing the operating system 106 and one or more application programs including, but not limited to, the spreadsheet application 108, the visualization component 110, other application programs, or the like. Although not shown in FIG. 9, the mass storage device 912 also can be configured to store the spreadsheet data 118, the geographic mapping data 124, the map data 126, and/or graphical data corresponding to one or more of the UIs 114 described herein, if desired.

The mass storage device 912 is connected to the CPU 902 through a mass storage controller (not shown) connected to the bus 910. The mass storage device 912 and its associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage for the computer architecture 900. Although the description of computer-readable media contained herein refers to a mass storage device, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that computer-readable media can be any available computer storage media or communication media that can be accessed by the computer architecture 900.

Communication media includes computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics changed or set in a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

By way of example, and not limitation, computer storage media may include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. For example, computer media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (“DVD”), HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer architecture 900. For purposes of the claims, the phrase “computer storage medium,” and variations thereof, does not include waves or signals per se and/or communication media.

According to various embodiments, the computer architecture 900 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to remote computers through a network such as the network 104. The computer architecture 900 may connect to the network 104 through a network interface unit 914 connected to the bus 910. It should be appreciated that the network interface unit 914 also may be utilized to connect to other types of networks and remote computer systems such as, for example, the user computing device 112, the data source 120, the geocoding services 122, the map server 128, and/or other systems or devices. The computer architecture 900 also may include an input/output controller 916 for receiving and processing input from a number of other devices, including a keyboard, mouse, or electronic stylus (not shown in FIG. 9). Similarly, the input/output controller 916 may provide output to a display screen, a printer, or other type of output device (also not shown in FIG. 9).

It should be appreciated that the software components described herein may, when loaded into the CPU 902 and executed, transform the CPU 902 and the overall computer architecture 900 from a general-purpose computing system into a special-purpose computing system customized to facilitate the functionality presented herein. The CPU 902 may be constructed from any number of transistors or other discrete circuit elements, which may individually or collectively assume any number of states. More specifically, the CPU 902 may operate as a finite-state machine, in response to executable instructions contained within the software modules disclosed herein. These computer-executable instructions may transform the CPU 902 by specifying how the CPU 902 transitions between states, thereby transforming the transistors or other discrete hardware elements constituting the CPU 902.

Encoding the software modules presented herein also may transform the physical structure of the computer-readable media presented herein. The specific transformation of physical structure may depend on various factors, in different implementations of this description. Examples of such factors may include, but are not limited to, the technology used to implement the computer-readable media, whether the computer-readable media is characterized as primary or secondary storage, and the like. For example, if the computer-readable media is implemented as semiconductor-based memory, the software disclosed herein may be encoded on the computer-readable media by transforming the physical state of the semiconductor memory. For example, the software may transform the state of transistors, capacitors, or other discrete circuit elements constituting the semiconductor memory. The software also may transform the physical state of such components in order to store data thereupon.

As another example, the computer-readable media disclosed herein may be implemented using magnetic or optical technology. In such implementations, the software presented herein may transform the physical state of magnetic or optical media, when the software is encoded therein. These transformations may include altering the magnetic characteristics of particular locations within given magnetic media. These transformations also may include altering the physical features or characteristics of particular locations within given optical media, to change the optical characteristics of those locations. Other transformations of physical media are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the present description, with the foregoing examples provided only to facilitate this discussion.

In light of the above, it should be appreciated that many types of physical transformations take place in the computer architecture 900 in order to store and execute the software components presented herein. It also should be appreciated that the computer architecture 900 may include other types of computing devices, including hand-held computers, embedded computer systems, personal digital assistants, and other types of computing devices known to those skilled in the art. It is also contemplated that the computer architecture 900 may not include all of the components shown in FIG. 9, may include other components that are not explicitly shown in FIG. 9, or may utilize an architecture completely different than that shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 illustrates an illustrative distributed computing environment 1000 capable of executing the software components described herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application. Thus, the distributed computing environment 1000 illustrated in FIG. 10 can be used to provide the functionality described herein with respect to the computer system 102. The distributed computing environment 1000 thus may be utilized to execute any aspects of the software components presented herein.

According to various implementations, the distributed computing environment 1000 includes a computing environment 1002 operating on, in communication with, or as part of the network 1004. The network 1004 also can include various access networks. According to various implementations, the functionality of the network 1004 can be provided by the network 104 illustrated in FIG. 1. One or more client devices 1006A-1006N (hereinafter referred to collectively and/or generically as “clients 1006”) can communicate with the computing environment 1002 via the network 1004 and/or other connections (not illustrated in FIG. 10). In the illustrated embodiment, the clients 1006 include a computing device 1006A such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or other computing device; a slate or tablet computing device (“tablet computing device”) 1006B; a mobile computing device 1006C such as a mobile telephone, a smart phone, or other mobile computing device; a server computer 1006D; and/or other devices 1006N. It should be understood that any number of clients 1006 can communicate with the computing environment 1002. Two example computing architectures for the clients 1006 are illustrated and described herein with reference to FIGS. 9 and 11. It should be understood that the illustrated clients 1006 and computing architectures illustrated and described herein are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limited in any way.

In the illustrated embodiment, the computing environment 1002 includes application servers 1008, data storage 1010, and one or more network interfaces 1012. According to various implementations, the functionality of the application servers 1008 can be provided by one or more server computers that are executing as part of, or in communication with, the network 1004. The application servers 1008 can host various services, virtual machines, portals, and/or other resources. In the illustrated embodiment, the application servers 1008 host one or more virtual machines 1014 for hosting applications or other functionality. According to various implementations, the virtual machines 1014 host one or more applications and/or software modules for providing the functionality described herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. The application servers 1008 also host or provide access to one or more Web portals, link pages, Web sites, and/or other information (“Web portals”) 1016.

According to various implementations, the application servers 1008 also include one or more mailbox services 1018 and one or more messaging services 1020. The mailbox services 1018 can include electronic mail (“email”) services. The mailbox services 1018 also can include various personal information management (“PIM”) services including, but not limited to, calendar services, contact management services, collaboration services, and/or other services. The messaging services 1020 can include, but are not limited to, instant messaging services, chat services, forum services, and/or other communication services.

The application servers 1008 also can include one or more social networking services 1022. The social networking services 1022 can include various social networking services including, but not limited to, services for sharing or posting status updates, instant messages, links, photos, videos, and/or other information; services for commenting or displaying interest in articles, products, blogs, or other resources; and/or other services. In some embodiments, the social networking services 1022 are provided by or include the FACEBOOK social networking service, the LINKEDIN professional networking service, the MYSPACE social networking service, the FOURSQUARE geographic networking service, the YAMMER office colleague networking service, and the like. In other embodiments, the social networking services 1022 are provided by other services, sites, and/or providers that may or may not explicitly be known as social networking providers. For example, some web sites allow users to interact with one another via email, chat services, and/or other means during various activities and/or contexts such as reading published articles, commenting on goods or services, publishing, collaboration, gaming, and the like. Examples of such services include, but are not limited to, the WINDOWS LIVE service and the XBOX LIVE service from Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wash. Other services are possible and are contemplated.

The social networking services 1022 also can include commenting, blogging, and/or microblogging services. Examples of such services include, but are not limited to, the YELP commenting service, the KUDZU review service, the OFFICETALK enterprise microblogging service, the TWITTER messaging service, the GOOGLE BUZZ service, and/or other services. It should be appreciated that the above lists of services are not exhaustive and that numerous additional and/or alternative social networking services 1022 are not mentioned herein for the sake of brevity. As such, the above embodiments are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limited in any way.

As shown in FIG. 10, the application servers 1008 also can host other services, applications, portals, and/or other resources (“other resources”) 1024. The other resources 1024 can include, but are not limited to, the geocoding services 122, the map server 128, the data source 120, and/or other services and/or resources. It thus can be appreciated that the computing environment 1002 can provide integration of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein provided herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application with various mailbox, messaging, social networking, and/or other services or resources. For example, the concepts and technologies disclosed herein can support sharing visualizations with social network users, mail recipients, message recipients or the like. Similarly, users or other entities can share visualizations and/or spreadsheet data 118 with social networking users, friends, connections, mail recipients, systems or devices, combinations thereof, or the like.

As mentioned above, the computing environment 1002 can include the data storage 1010. According to various implementations, the functionality of the data storage 1010 is provided by one or more databases operating on, or in communication with, the network 1004. The functionality of the data storage 1010 also can be provided by one or more server computers configured to host data for the computing environment 1002. The data storage 1010 can include, host, or provide one or more real or virtual datastores 1026A-1026N (hereinafter referred to collectively and/or generically as “datastores 1026”). The datastores 1026 are configured to host data used or created by the application servers 1008 and/or other data. Although not illustrated in FIG. 10, the datastores 1026 also can host or store the operating system 106, the spreadsheet application 108, the visualization component 110, graphics data corresponding to one or more UIs 114, the spreadsheet data 118, the geographic mapping data 124, the map data 126, combinations thereof, or the like.

The computing environment 1002 can communicate with, or be accessed by, the network interfaces 1012. The network interfaces 1012 can include various types of network hardware and software for supporting communications between two or more computing devices including, but not limited to, the clients 1006 and the application servers 1008. It should be appreciated that the network interfaces 1012 also may be utilized to connect to other types of networks and/or computer systems.

It should be understood that the distributed computing environment 1000 described herein can provide any aspects of the software elements described herein with any number of virtual computing resources and/or other distributed computing functionality that can be configured to execute any aspects of the software components disclosed herein. According to various implementations of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the distributed computing environment 1000 provides the software functionality described herein as a service to the clients 1006. It should be understood that the clients 1006 can include real or virtual machines including, but not limited to, server computers, web servers, personal computers, mobile computing devices, smart phones, and/or other devices. As such, various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein enable any device configured to access the distributed computing environment 1000 to utilize the functionality described herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application.

Turning now to FIG. 11, an illustrative computing device architecture 1100 for a computing device that is capable of executing various software components described herein for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application. The computing device architecture 1100 is applicable to computing devices that facilitate mobile computing due, in part, to form factor, wireless connectivity, and/or battery-powered operation. In some embodiments, the computing devices include, but are not limited to, mobile telephones, tablet devices, slate devices, portable video game devices, and the like. Moreover, the computing device architecture 1100 is applicable to any of the clients 1106 shown in FIG. 10. Furthermore, aspects of the computing device architecture 1100 may be applicable to traditional desktop computers, portable computers (e.g., laptops, notebooks, ultra-portables, and netbooks), server computers, and other computer systems, such as described herein with reference to FIG. 9. For example, the single touch and multi-touch aspects disclosed herein below may be applied to desktop computers that utilize a touchscreen or some other touch-enabled device, such as a touch-enabled track pad or touch-enabled mouse.

The computing device architecture 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11 includes a processor 1102, memory components 1104, network connectivity components 1106, sensor components 1108, input/output components 1110, and power components 1112. In the illustrated embodiment, the processor 1102 is in communication with the memory components 1104, the network connectivity components 1106, the sensor components 1108, the input/output (“I/O”) components 1110, and the power components 1112. Although no connections are shown between the individuals components illustrated in FIG. 11, the components can interact to carry out device functions. In some embodiments, the components are arranged so as to communicate via one or more busses (not shown).

The processor 1102 includes a central processing unit (“CPU”) configured to process data, execute computer-executable instructions of one or more application programs, and communicate with other components of the computing device architecture 1100 in order to perform various functionality described herein. The processor 1102 may be utilized to execute aspects of the software components presented herein and, particularly, those that utilize, at least in part, a touch-enabled input.

In some embodiments, the processor 1102 includes a graphics processing unit (“GPU”) configured to accelerate operations performed by the CPU, including, but not limited to, operations performed by executing general-purpose scientific and engineering computing applications, as well as graphics-intensive computing applications such as high resolution video (e.g., 1020p, 1080p, and greater), video games, three-dimensional modeling applications, and the like. In some embodiments, the processor 1102 is configured to communicate with a discrete GPU (not shown). In any case, the CPU and GPU may be configured in accordance with a co-processing CPU/GPU computing model, wherein the sequential part of an application executes on the CPU and the computationally-intensive part is accelerated by the GPU.

In some embodiments, the processor 1102 is, or is included in, a system-on-chip (“SoC”) along with one or more of the other components described herein below. For example, the SoC may include the processor 1102, a GPU, one or more of the network connectivity components 1106, and one or more of the sensor components 1108. In some embodiments, the processor 1102 is fabricated, in part, utilizing a package-on-package (“PoP”) integrated circuit packaging technique. Moreover, the processor 1102 may be a single core or multi-core processor.

The processor 1102 may be created in accordance with an ARM architecture, available for license from ARM HOLDINGS of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Alternatively, the processor 1102 may be created in accordance with an x86 architecture, such as is available from INTEL CORPORATION of Mountain View, Calif. and others. In some embodiments, the processor 1102 is a SNAPDRAGON SoC, available from QUALCOMM of San Diego, Calif., a TEGRA SoC, available from NVIDIA of Santa Clara, Calif., a HUMMINGBIRD SoC, available from SAMSUNG of Seoul, South Korea, an Open Multimedia Application Platform (“OMAP”) SoC, available from TEXAS INSTRUMENTS of Dallas, Tex., a customized version of any of the above SoCs, or a proprietary SoC.

The memory components 1104 include a random access memory (“RAM”) 1114, a read-only memory (“ROM”) 1116, an integrated storage memory (“integrated storage”) 1118, and a removable storage memory (“removable storage”) 1120. In some embodiments, the RAM 1114 or a portion thereof, the ROM 1116 or a portion thereof, and/or some combination the RAM 1114 and the ROM 1116 is integrated in the processor 1102. In some embodiments, the ROM 1116 is configured to store a firmware, an operating system or a portion thereof (e.g., operating system kernel), and/or a bootloader to load an operating system kernel from the integrated storage 1118 or the removable storage 1120.

The integrated storage 1118 can include a solid-state memory, a hard disk, or a combination of solid-state memory and a hard disk. The integrated storage 1118 may be soldered or otherwise connected to a logic board upon which the processor 1102 and other components described herein also may be connected. As such, the integrated storage 1118 is integrated in the computing device. The integrated storage 1118 is configured to store an operating system or portions thereof, application programs, data, and other software components described herein.

The removable storage 1120 can include a solid-state memory, a hard disk, or a combination of solid-state memory and a hard disk. In some embodiments, the removable storage 1120 is provided in lieu of the integrated storage 1118. In other embodiments, the removable storage 1120 is provided as additional optional storage. In some embodiments, the removable storage 1120 is logically combined with the integrated storage 1118 such that the total available storage is made available and shown to a user as a total combined capacity of the integrated storage 1118 and the removable storage 1120.

The removable storage 1120 is configured to be inserted into a removable storage memory slot (not shown) or other mechanism by which the removable storage 1120 is inserted and secured to facilitate a connection over which the removable storage 1120 can communicate with other components of the computing device, such as the processor 1102. The removable storage 1120 may be embodied in various memory card formats including, but not limited to, PC card, CompactFlash card, memory stick, secure digital (“SD”), miniSD, microSD, universal integrated circuit card (“UICC”) (e.g., a subscriber identity module (“SIM”) or universal SIM (“USIM”)), a proprietary format, or the like.

It can be understood that one or more of the memory components 1104 can store an operating system. According to various embodiments, the operating system includes, but is not limited to, SYMBIAN OS from SYMBIAN LIMITED, WINDOWS MOBILE OS from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., WINDOWS PHONE OS from Microsoft Corporation, WINDOWS from Microsoft Corporation, PALM WEBOS from Hewlett-Packard Company of Palo Alto, Calif., BLACKBERRY OS from Research In Motion Limited of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, IOS from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., and ANDROID OS from Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. Other operating systems are contemplated.

The network connectivity components 1106 include a wireless wide area network component (“WWAN component”) 1122, a wireless local area network component (“WLAN component”) 1124, and a wireless personal area network component (“WPAN component”) 1126. The network connectivity components 1106 facilitate communications to and from a network 1128, which may be a WWAN, a WLAN, or a WPAN. Although a single network 1128 is illustrated, the network connectivity components 1106 may facilitate simultaneous communication with multiple networks. For example, the network connectivity components 1106 may facilitate simultaneous communications with multiple networks via one or more of a WWAN, a WLAN, or a WPAN.

In some embodiments, the network 1128 can correspond to the network 104 and/or the network 1004 illustrated and described in FIGS. 1 and 9-10. In some other embodiments, the network 1128 can include the network 104 illustrated and described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 9 and/or the network 1004 illustrated and described in FIG. 10. In yet other embodiments, the network 1128 can provide access to the network 104 illustrated and described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 9 and/or the network 1004 illustrated and described in FIG. 10.

The network 1128 may be a WWAN, such as a mobile telecommunications network utilizing one or more mobile telecommunications technologies to provide voice and/or data services to a computing device utilizing the computing device architecture 1100 via the WWAN component 1122. The mobile telecommunications technologies can include, but are not limited to, Global System for Mobile communications (“GSM”), Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”) ONE, CDMA2000, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“UMTS”), Long Term Evolution (“LTE”), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (“WiMAX”). Moreover, the network 1128 may utilize various channel access methods (which may or may not be used by the aforementioned standards) including, but not limited to, Time Division Multiple Access (“TDMA”), Frequency Division Multiple Access (“FDMA”), CDMA, wideband CDMA (“W-CDMA”), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (“OFDM”), Space Division Multiple Access (“SDMA”), and the like. Data communications may be provided using General Packet Radio Service (“GPRS”), Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (“EDGE”), the High-Speed Packet Access (“HSPA”) protocol family including High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (“HSDPA”), Enhanced Uplink (“EUL”) or otherwise termed High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (“HSUPA”), Evolved HSPA (“HSPA+”), LTE, and various other current and future wireless data access standards. The network 1128 may be configured to provide voice and/or data communications with any combination of the above technologies. The network 1128 may be configured to or adapted to provide voice and/or data communications in accordance with future generation technologies.

In some embodiments, the WWAN component 1122 is configured to provide dual- multi-mode connectivity to the network 1128. For example, the WWAN component 1122 may be configured to provide connectivity to the network 1128, wherein the network 1128 provides service via GSM and UMTS technologies, or via some other combination of technologies. Alternatively, multiple WWAN components 1122 may be utilized to perform such functionality, and/or provide additional functionality to support other non-compatible technologies (i.e., incapable of being supported by a single WWAN component). The WWAN component 1122 may facilitate similar connectivity to multiple networks (e.g., a UMTS network and an LTE network).

The network 1128 may be a WLAN operating in accordance with one or more Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (“IEEE”) 802.11 standards, such as IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, and/or future 802.11 standard (referred to herein collectively as WI-FI). Draft 802.11 standards are also contemplated. In some embodiments, the WLAN is implemented utilizing one or more wireless WI-FI access points. In some embodiments, one or more of the wireless WI-FI access points are another computing device with connectivity to a WWAN that are functioning as a WI-FI hotspot. The WLAN component 1124 is configured to connect to the network 1128 via the WI-FI access points. Such connections may be secured via various encryption technologies including, but not limited, WI-FI Protected Access (“WPA”), WPA2, Wired Equivalent Privacy (“WEP”), and the like.

The network 1128 may be a WPAN operating in accordance with Infrared Data Association (“IrDA”), BLUETOOTH, wireless Universal Serial Bus (“USB”), Z-Wave, ZIGBEE, or some other short-range wireless technology. In some embodiments, the WPAN component 1126 is configured to facilitate communications with other devices, such as peripherals, computers, or other computing devices via the WPAN.

The sensor components 1108 include a magnetometer 1130, an ambient light sensor 1132, a proximity sensor 1134, an accelerometer 1136, a gyroscope 1138, and a Global Positioning System sensor (“GPS sensor”) 1140. It is contemplated that other sensors, such as, but not limited to, temperature sensors or shock detection sensors, also may be incorporated in the computing device architecture 1100.

The magnetometer 1130 is configured to measure the strength and direction of a magnetic field. In some embodiments the magnetometer 1130 provides measurements to a compass application program stored within one of the memory components 1104 in order to provide a user with accurate directions in a frame of reference including the cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west. Similar measurements may be provided to a navigation application program that includes a compass component. Other uses of measurements obtained by the magnetometer 1130 are contemplated.

The ambient light sensor 1132 is configured to measure ambient light. In some embodiments, the ambient light sensor 1132 provides measurements to an application program stored within one the memory components 1104 in order to automatically adjust the brightness of a display (described below) to compensate for low-light and high-light environments. Other uses of measurements obtained by the ambient light sensor 1132 are contemplated.

The proximity sensor 1134 is configured to detect the presence of an object or thing in proximity to the computing device without direct contact. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor 1134 detects the presence of a user's body (e.g., the user's face) and provides this information to an application program stored within one of the memory components 1104 that utilizes the proximity information to enable or disable some functionality of the computing device. For example, a telephone application program may automatically disable a touchscreen (described below) in response to receiving the proximity information so that the user's face does not inadvertently end a call or enable/disable other functionality within the telephone application program during the call. Other uses of proximity as detected by the proximity sensor 1134 are contemplated.

The accelerometer 1136 is configured to measure proper acceleration. In some embodiments, output from the accelerometer 1136 is used by an application program as an input mechanism to control some functionality of the application program. For example, the application program may be a video game in which a character, a portion thereof, or an object is moved or otherwise manipulated in response to input received via the accelerometer 1136. In some embodiments, output from the accelerometer 1136 is provided to an application program for use in switching between landscape and portrait modes, calculating coordinate acceleration, or detecting a fall. Other uses of the accelerometer 1136 are contemplated.

The gyroscope 1138 is configured to measure and maintain orientation. In some embodiments, output from the gyroscope 1138 is used by an application program as an input mechanism to control some functionality of the application program. For example, the gyroscope 1138 can be used for accurate recognition of movement within a three-dimensional environment of a video game application or some other application. In some embodiments, an application program utilizes output from the gyroscope 1138 and the accelerometer 1136 to enhance control of some functionality of the application program. Other uses of the gyroscope 1138 are contemplated.

The GPS sensor 1140 is configured to receive signals from GPS satellites for use in calculating a location. The location calculated by the GPS sensor 1140 may be used by any application program that requires or benefits from location information. For example, the location calculated by the GPS sensor 1140 may be used with a navigation application program to provide directions from the location to a destination or directions from the destination to the location. Moreover, the GPS sensor 1140 may be used to provide location information to an external location-based service, such as E911 service. The GPS sensor 1140 may obtain location information generated via WI-FI, WIMAX, and/or cellular triangulation techniques utilizing one or more of the network connectivity components 1106 to aid the GPS sensor 1140 in obtaining a location fix. The GPS sensor 1140 may also be used in Assisted GPS (“A-GPS”) systems.

The I/O components 1110 include a display 1142, a touchscreen 1144, a data I/O interface component (“data I/O”) 1146, an audio I/O interface component (“audio I/O”) 1148, a video I/O interface component (“video I/O”) 1150, and a camera 1152. In some embodiments, the display 1142 and the touchscreen 1144 are combined. In some embodiments two or more of the data I/O component 1146, the audio I/O component 1148, and the video I/O component 1150 are combined. The I/O components 1110 may include discrete processors configured to support the various interface described below, or may include processing functionality built-in to the processor 1102.

The display 1142 is an output device configured to present information in a visual form. In particular, the display 1142 may present graphical user interface (“GUI”) elements, text, images, video, notifications, virtual buttons, virtual keyboards, messaging data, Internet content, device status, time, date, calendar data, preferences, map information, location information, and any other information that is capable of being presented in a visual form. In some embodiments, the display 1142 is a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) utilizing any active or passive matrix technology and any backlighting technology (if used). In some embodiments, the display 1142 is an organic light emitting diode (“OLED”) display. Other display types are contemplated.

The touchscreen 1144 is an input device configured to detect the presence and location of a touch. The touchscreen 1144 may be a resistive touchscreen, a capacitive touchscreen, a surface acoustic wave touchscreen, an infrared touchscreen, an optical imaging touchscreen, a dispersive signal touchscreen, an acoustic pulse recognition touchscreen, or may utilize any other touchscreen technology. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 is incorporated on top of the display 1142 as a transparent layer to enable a user to use one or more touches to interact with objects or other information presented on the display 1142. In other embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 is a touch pad incorporated on a surface of the computing device that does not include the display 1142. For example, the computing device may have a touchscreen incorporated on top of the display 1142 and a touch pad on a surface opposite the display 1142.

In some embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 is a single-touch touchscreen. In other embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 is a multi-touch touchscreen. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 is configured to detect discrete touches, single touch gestures, and/or multi-touch gestures. These are collectively referred to herein as gestures for convenience. Several gestures will now be described. It should be understood that these gestures are illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, the described gestures, additional gestures, and/or alternative gestures may be implemented in software for use with the touchscreen 1144. As such, a developer may create gestures that are specific to a particular application program.

In some embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 supports a tap gesture in which a user taps the touchscreen 1144 once on an item presented on the display 1142. The tap gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, opening or launching whatever the user taps. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 supports a double tap gesture in which a user taps the touchscreen 1144 twice on an item presented on the display 1142. The double tap gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, zooming in or zooming out in stages. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 supports a tap and hold gesture in which a user taps the touchscreen 1144 and maintains contact for at least a pre-defined time. The tap and hold gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, opening a context-specific menu.

In some embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 supports a pan gesture in which a user places a finger on the touchscreen 1144 and maintains contact with the touchscreen 1144 while moving the finger on the touchscreen 1144. The pan gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, moving through screens, images, or menus at a controlled rate. Multiple finger pan gestures are also contemplated. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 supports a flick gesture in which a user swipes a finger in the direction the user wants the screen to move. The flick gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, scrolling horizontally or vertically through menus or pages. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 1144 supports a pinch and stretch gesture in which a user makes a pinching motion with two fingers (e.g., thumb and forefinger) on the touchscreen 1144 or moves the two fingers apart. The pinch and stretch gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, zooming gradually in or out of a website, map, or picture.

Although the above gestures have been described with reference to the use one or more fingers for performing the gestures, other appendages such as toes or objects such as styluses may be used to interact with the touchscreen 1144. As such, the above gestures should be understood as being illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The data I/O interface component 1146 is configured to facilitate input of data to the computing device and output of data from the computing device. In some embodiments, the data I/O interface component 1146 includes a connector configured to provide wired connectivity between the computing device and a computer system, for example, for synchronization operation purposes. The connector may be a proprietary connector or a standardized connector such as USB, micro-USB, mini-USB, or the like. In some embodiments, the connector is a dock connector for docking the computing device with another device such as a docking station, audio device (e.g., a digital music player), or video device.

The audio I/O interface component 1148 is configured to provide audio input and/or output capabilities to the computing device. In some embodiments, the audio I/O interface component 1146 includes a microphone configured to collect audio signals. In some embodiments, the audio I/O interface component 1146 includes a headphone jack configured to provide connectivity for headphones or other external speakers. In some embodiments, the audio interface component 1148 includes a speaker for the output of audio signals. In some embodiments, the audio I/O interface component 1146 includes an optical audio cable out.

The video I/O interface component 1150 is configured to provide video input and/or output capabilities to the computing device. In some embodiments, the video I/O interface component 1150 includes a video connector configured to receive video as input from another device (e.g., a video media player such as a DVD or BLURAY player) or send video as output to another device (e.g., a monitor, a television, or some other external display). In some embodiments, the video I/O interface component 1150 includes a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (“HDMI”), mini-HDMI, micro-HDMI, DisplayPort, or proprietary connector to input/output video content. In some embodiments, the video I/O interface component 1150 or portions thereof is combined with the audio I/O interface component 1148 or portions thereof.

The camera 1152 can be configured to capture still images and/or video. The camera 1152 may utilize a charge coupled device (“CCD”) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (“CMOS”) image sensor to capture images. In some embodiments, the camera 1152 includes a flash to aid in taking pictures in low-light environments. Settings for the camera 1152 may be implemented as hardware or software buttons.

Although not illustrated, one or more hardware buttons may also be included in the computing device architecture 1100. The hardware buttons may be used for controlling some operational aspect of the computing device. The hardware buttons may be dedicated buttons or multi-use buttons. The hardware buttons may be mechanical or sensor-based.

The illustrated power components 1112 include one or more batteries 1154, which can be connected to a battery gauge 1156. The batteries 1154 may be rechargeable or disposable. Rechargeable battery types include, but are not limited to, lithium polymer, lithium ion, nickel cadmium, and nickel metal hydride. Each of the batteries 1154 may be made of one or more cells.

The battery gauge 1156 can be configured to measure battery parameters such as current, voltage, and temperature. In some embodiments, the battery gauge 1156 is configured to measure the effect of a battery's discharge rate, temperature, age and other factors to predict remaining life within a certain percentage of error. In some embodiments, the battery gauge 1156 provides measurements to an application program that is configured to utilize the measurements to present useful power management data to a user. Power management data may include one or more of a percentage of battery used, a percentage of battery remaining, a battery condition, a remaining time, a remaining capacity (e.g., in watt hours), a current draw, and a voltage.

The power components 1112 may also include a power connector, which may be combined with one or more of the aforementioned I/O components 1110. The power components 1112 may interface with an external power system or charging equipment via a power I/O component 1144.

Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that technologies for animation transitions and effects in a spreadsheet application have been disclosed herein. Although the subject matter presented herein has been described in language specific to computer structural features, methodological and transformative acts, specific computing machinery, and computer readable media, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features, acts, or media described herein. Rather, the specific features, acts and mediums are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications and changes may be made to the subject matter described herein without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention, which is set forth in the following claims. 

1. A computer-implemented method for generating an animation in a spreadsheet application, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for: detecting, at a computer system executing a visualization component, selection of a scene included in a visualization of spreadsheet data; determining, by the computer system, a duration of the scene based upon a start time of the scene and an end time of the scene; receiving, by the computer system, selection of an effect comprising a visual effect applied during rendering of the scene from a viewpoint from which the scene is rendered; generating, by the computer system, the scene based upon the duration and the effect for the scene; and outputting, by the computer system, an effect animation corresponding to the effect applied to the scene.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the effect comprises determining an effect type for the scene, determining a duration of the effect and a speed or magnitude of the effect, and generating the effect animation based upon the effect type and the duration of he scene, as well as positioning of the viewpoint.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the effect further comprises determining a camera distance for the effect, the camera distance comprising a distance between the viewpoint for the effect animation and a center point of data included in the scene.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the effect type is selected from a group comprising an orbit effect, a figure eight effect, a back and forth effect, a line effect, and a stationary effect.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a further scene included in the visualization; generating a transition between the scene the further scene; and outputting a transition animation corresponding to the transition applied to the scene and the further scene.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein generating the transition further comprises determining a transition type for the transition, determining a distance between a start location that corresponds to the scene and an end location corresponding to the further scene, determining a duration of the transition, and generating the transition animation based upon the transition type, the distance, and the duration.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the distance between the scene and the further scene comprises identifying a first geographic location associated with data in the scene, identifying a second geographic location associated with data in the further scene, determining a distance between the first geographic location and the second geographic location, and defining the distance between the scene and the further scene as the distance between the first geographic location and the second geographic location.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the transition type is selected from a group comprising a linear transition type, an arc transition type, or a zoom-in/zoom-out transition type.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein generating the transition further comprises identifying the transition type as one of a cut transition type or a fade transition type, and and generating the transition animation based upon the transition type.
 10. The method of claim 5, further comprising: generating an effect for the further scene; and outputting a further effect animation corresponding further scene and the effect applied to the further scene.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a user interface comprising a representation of the scene, a further representation of a further scene of the visualization, and controls for specifying an effect type, a duration of the effect, a speed of the effect, a magnitude of the effect, a transition type for a transition between the scene and the further scene, and a duration for the transition; and determining, based upon interactions with the user interface, the effect type, the duration of the effect, the speed of the effect or the magnitude of the effect, the transition type, and the duration.
 12. A computer storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to: detect selection of a scene included in a visualization of spreadsheet data; determine a duration of the scene, the duration comprising an amount of time between a start time of the scene and an end time of the scene; receive data indicating a selection of an effect to be applied to the scene, the effect comprising a visual effect applied during rendering of the scene from a viewpoint from which the scene is rendered; identify a further scene included in the visualization; generate a transition between the scene and the further scene; and output an effect animation and a transition animation.
 13. The computer storage medium of claim 12, wherein generating the effect comprises determining an effect type for the scene, determining a speed of the effect or a magnitude of the effect, determining a camera distance for the effect, the camera distance comprising a distance between the viewpoint for the effect animation and a center point of data included in the scene, and generating the effect animation based upon the effect type, the duration, the speed or the magnitude, and the camera distance. 14-20. (canceled)
 21. The computer storage medium of claim 12, wherein generating the transition further comprises determining a transition type for the transition, determining a duration of the transition, determining a distance between the scene and the further scene, determining a duration of the transition, determining a path and an orientation of a viewpoint from which the transition is to be rendered, and generating the transition animation based upon the transition type, the distance, and the duration.
 22. The computer storage medium of claim 21, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to: generate a user interface comprising representations of the scene and the further scene, and controls for specifying an effect type, a duration of the effect, a speed of the effect or a magnitude of the effect, a transition type for a transition between the scene and the further scene, and a duration of the transition; and determining, based upon interactions with the user interface, the effect type, the duration of the effect, the speed or magnitude of the effect, the transition type, and the duration.
 23. A computer storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to: generate a user interface comprising representations of a scene and a further scene included in a visualization of spreadsheet data, and controls for specifying an effect type, a duration of the effect based upon a start time of the scene and an end time of the scene, a speed of the effect or a magnitude of the effect, a transition type for a transition between the scene and the further scene, and a duration of the transition; detect selection of one of the representations corresponding to the scene; determine a duration of the scene based upon the start time and the end time; identify, based upon a selection received via the user interface, an effect to be applied to the scene selected, the effect comprising a visual effect applied during rendering of the scene from a viewpoint from which the scene is rendered and being based on the effect type, the duration of the effect, and the speed or magnitude of the effect; identify a further scene included in the visualization; generate a transition between the scene and the further scene, the transition being based on the transition type and the duration; and output an effect animation and a transition animation.
 24. The computer storage medium of claim 23, wherein the transition type comprises one effect selected from a group comprising a cut transition type, a fade transition type, a linear transition type, an arc transition type, or a zoom-in/zoom-out transition type.
 25. The computer storage medium of claim 23, wherein the effect type is selected from a group comprising an orbit effect, a figure eight effect, a back and forth effect, a line effect, and a stationary effect.
 26. The computer storage medium of claim 23, wherein outputting the effect animation and the transition animation comprises generating a preview of a visualization comprising the effect animation and the transition animation, and presenting the preview in the user interface. 